Sunday, February 21, 2010

When we moved into our current neighborhood, Poppa Trix and I were super excited to see that there was a Senegalese restaurant within walking distance of our house. All the cab drivers eat there, which in my book is usually a very good sign. Unfortunately, it turns out that if you're not from Senegal and/or a cab driver yourself, your meal may take upwards of an hour to eventually find its meandering way onto your table.

Now, that wouldn't be so bad if the food were stellar. But the kitchen always seems to have just run out of the very thing I want, and the dishes they do have are literally swimming in deep rivers of palm oil. After several attempts to love this place, I realized that I had no choice: If I want Senegalese food, I'm just going to have to make it myself.
I love my own healthy version of one of Senegal's classic dishes, yassa. Usually done with chicken (poulet yassa) or fish (poisson yassa), mine is vegetarian, and uses seitan as the protein, but I can envision chick peas, kidney beans, or black eyed peas as alternate, equally yummy, proteins.

Senegalese Veggie Yassa

Like many African stew-type dishes, these amounts are approximate and should serve as a guide.

5 or so tbsp peanut oil

1 package seitan, drained and chopped

3-4 large onions, thinly sliced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Cider vinegar (the same quantity as lemon juice)

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

hot chili peppers, chopped - make it as hot as you like

cayenne or red pepper flakes

1-2 bay leaves

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

veggie bouillon cube

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cabbage, chopped

4-5 carrots, cut into discs

2-3 potatoes, cubed

Whisk together the lemon, cider vinegar, mustard, soy sauce and a tbsp of peanut oil. (If you were making poulet yassa, this would be your marinade.) Meanwhile, saute the onions and chilies in the peanut oil until the onions soften. Add the garlic and all the other veggies, saute a few minutes more. Add the mustard sauce, and stir to coat. Add the bouillon cube, the seitan, and just enough water to barely cover (you could also use veggie stock here, but I'm giving a nod to the ubiquitous Maggi cube found so often in African cuisine.) Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer until the veggies are tender. Taste the stock and add a pinch of cayenne or hot pepper if it's not spicy enough, and salt to taste. I love this dish with polenta, but couscous would be a perfect choice.

The heat of the chilies with the bitter lemon and tart mustard is a unique - and somewhat addictive - flavor.

29 comments:

Okay, so my only encounter with Senegal was the cab driver I had in Baltimore once! We were nearly killed when he stopped behind a car and two men got out to yell at each other, one had a weapon and then pushed the other one on top of my cab--not kidding! My little driver thought it best to stand still. However, I demanded my driver run through the stop sign as I crunched down in the back seat for protection and began to cry. (Scary, chills.) So the Senegal dish--it brought back this whole memory for me. I DO love the flavors here and, totally love you opted using seitan--a perfect choice in my opinion! I think I am far enough removed from my "Senegal" memory to give this a try!

I have had my issues with African food (abyssynian) ... the restaurants aren't as clean as they could be... on the other hand, eating raw meat with that great bread maybe wasn't such a great idea. Sooo, your post made me laugh. The recipe did not... really good and easily adapted for us meat eaters. Great story and recipe, Trix!

I HATE it when you give a restaurant try after try after try - wanting do much for the relationship to work - alas - our philosophy if it's almost there, we'll give it one more try - if not - cut bait.This recipe sounds delicious and I love first commentator Kelly's story too. ~Mary

I have found that following the cab drivers, at least in Houston, leads to food that is (to my palate) spicy beyond belief. So I think cooking it your way at home is the way to go. This deeply saddens David, who would gladly go toe to toe with the natives when it comes to heat. So you've created Baltigal or Senemore or something. Beautiful dish!

I love seitan! And everything about African cuisine! I'm so happy it's 100% veggie too. I always find myself having to vegetarianize lots of African dishes; this one is already done for me! :) I really can't wait to have a go at this- It looks divine!